Published by The Printers of the Twelfth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers (Roll 101 – Humboldt Chronicle, Tennessee State Archives)

Soldiers Budgett Volume 1 No. 1

Humbolt, Tennessee July 24, 1862

Facts and Fancies —–

Dr. Winship of Boston expects to be strong enough in less than a year to carry 3000 lbs. We expect Gen. McClellan to be strong enough in a few days to carry Richmond —- Louisville Journal.

A Negro’s Notion —- It is pecularly the duty of the white race to be cleanly, they show dirt so easily.

Interesting Rebel Letter

The following letter, discovered among a quantity of papers just removed from a certain office in this village, will doubtless prove interesting to our readers and their friends at home, as it ? of persons and places in the vicinity of our present Location, and of events and trials well understood by soldiers and with which they have pretty thorough acquaintance. The Southside view of the bombardment of Fort Pillow will be new to most, as also the peculiarities of the Conscript Law, which has filled the ranks of the rebel army, in many cases with men who hate the cause for which they fight, and are taking every opportunity to desert from it:

Ripley, Lauderdale Co.,}

April 22d, 1862 }

Dear Wife: —- I have once more an opportunity to pencil you a few lines whether it ever reaches you or not. I hope however it will, as I learn there is a mail from there to Brownsville, and thence Humboldt. I write you from Trenton and also from Humboldt on my way to Memphis and Fort Pillow of which I will try to give you some account. I was detailed as I wrote you to take charge of the sick and dismounted men of the Reg’t consisting of such as has lost their horses or those that had been sick and were recovering but unable to go through on horseback, and also some prisoners to take to Ft. Pillow consisting in all about 50 men and not more than 5 or 6 out of any company and not a man that I personally knew among them except John Huskey, (maybe be Ausky). I had to provide for them as best I could and keep them together and take them to the Fort and to march them on foot from Mason’s Depot near Brownsville, a distance of 80 miles. —-when I got to Mason’s Depot I learned that the Hatchie bottom was overflowed and that we would have to wade and ferry for two miles. I staid till the next day’s train and went to Memphis and that night up to Ft. Pillow which I reached about 10 o’clock on Friday morning, it was raining incessantly and we were about half starved, and half of us without blankets and could hear nothing of our Regt. which we expected to meet there, as they had started to Ft. Pillow when we did. ___ I could get no quarters to shelter my men nor provisions for them to eat from the commissary department, and I obtained permission or rather orders from Gen. Rust, who is in command there to go out 4 miles to some old mills at (The Ashery) or the Hatchie to some old shanties, we trudged through the mud out there that night and staid till Sunday morning waiting to hear what become of our Regt. or to get some orders what to do but getting no orders and hearing that the Regt. had encamped at Ripley (this place) I determined to try to get to it and we started through the mud and rain on foot and made out to get 10 miles when I could go no further, too foot sore and broke down. I staid all night with a very clever old fellow named Glenn and sent word on to Ripley for them to send me my horse and one for Husky who was with me, and I got here last night. The men have all got in except the sick I left at Memphis, Ft. Pillow and on the road. I found the Regt. encamped here and no prospect of going to Ft. Pillow, they say they had an awful time getting here, having to swim their horses over some streams and ferry over others, and it appears that the whole movement was caused by a false alarm caused by some foolish persons reporting that they had seen large bodies of the enemy embarking in barges through the overflow of the Forkideer and landing troops at Key Corner for the purpose of marching on Ft. Pillow by land. The story gained magnitude as it went, and from here, and above here to Ft. Pillow the people were alarmed and excited, and the order was sent for us to march here from Trenton which we have done with great trouble, and all for nothing. The whole store originated from some one seeing some persons moving in boats through the overflow and took it for the Lincoln army, just such fools ought to be took up and hung, and I think it will put a stop in so many false alarms, and I am growing very tired of them. There is some immense fortifications and heavy guns at Ft. Pillow, and from its national situation and approaches it seems to me impossible for any number of men to take it by a land attack. If we have any thing like a force, an army cannot approach it by land during the high water only by traveling 30 or 40 miles long a narrow neck of land some places not more than 3/4 of a mile wide, between the waters of the Hatchie and Cole Creek, one runs into the river just below the fortifications and the other just above, and runs nearly parallel to each other for nearly 30 or 40 miles, a small number of Calvary only is required to do the picketing and scouting in this narrow neck, and I therefore think we will not remain at this place long, at least all of us will not. I hope we will soon be ordered back to Weakly and if possible chastise some of these villians that are robbing and plundering me of my property, but I cannot tell you what movement we shall make next. If I knew I would tell you. The Yankees are bombarding Ft. Pillow occasionally but doing us no harm, they occasionally throw a shell inside the fortifications, which makes the boys dodge about right smartly, and sometimes throw one clear over into the hills beyond. Our guns reply to them pretty spitefully with how much effects we cannot descertain correctly, they fire at us from side, some 5 miles distant, and great many of their shells explode half a mile distant from the shore, and some many feet in the air. I am apprehensive that the Yankees will succeed in getting by or getting around Ft. Pillow and erecting batteries below, thus enabling them to cut off supplies. Yankee ingenuity can accomplish almost everything and they will do anything in their power to accomplish that end. We have heard some cheering news from Nashville and Huntsville, Alabama, that our forces had retaken both those places and captured a good many prisoners at both places. I hope it is true. We have given them a terrible lesson at Corinth, and which it is said to have almost paralysed them, having taught them they cannot compete with us on land when the musket and bayonet has to decide the contest as is proved in the two greatest pitched battles on record, Manassas and Corinth, and many more of meaner importance. I will now talk with you awhile, my dear, about matters that would seem to interest us more, it is a gloomy subject now, to talk about the matters relating to our once happy home, but now desolated by the unhalowed tread of the ruthless tyrants that would crush us into dust and rivet the chains of depotism upon us forever. From the best information I can get through letters to our boys from Dresden and otherwise, I learn that the Yankees took away about 700 dollars worth of property, among it two mules and Will;s horses, a quantity of bacon and I know not what else, it is but a foretaste of what they will do, I am very certain they will get everything we have before they are done, if some steps are not taken to save some little remnants on which we may subsist if I am permitted to survive this struggle. My hands are tied and now it is too late for me to do anything. If those who have professed once to be my friends, and for whose property and rights I am risking his life and undergoing hardships will sit still and quietly see the miserable thieves take off my property before their eyes and take no steps to remove any of it out of the way, I must submit to it. – Capt. McCutchen, to my great surprise, suggested to me this morning, that if I thought I could make any arrangement to get my property away, he thought he would try to let me go and attend to it, but at this time it would be impossible for me to go without running a greater risk than would be justifiable in doing for the sake of my property in Tennessee. I have this proposition to suggest and after you have read it and studied upon it, act upon it or not as you think proper, it is the only plan I have to suggest. That you go on a visit home or to Weakly Co. which no doubt brother Webb will assist you to go to Dresden, or in the neighborhood of Jack Vincents, Col. Jenkins, Thom Whites, or any where you made see proper home if you may wish. See William Landrem at any rate, make such arrangements as you can with anyone that will help you to remove such negroes as will by their hire pay their way at least, say Mit (leave her child); Ellen, Hal, Harrison and Sharp, get them by some means to the neighborhood of Humboldt, and hire them out for whatever you can get, one in a place about in the country, we may be able to keep them from starving. Try to get some one, no matter who, unionist or secessionist, who may be willing to do you a kindness by paying them well for it to hire Till and Mary out somewhere in the country or neighborhood, that will not seem like trying to run them off. –Let Grace, Unkle Lee and Jennie stay at home, and if they can take care of the little negroes. Let William stay on the farm as his own, make all the Yankees ? let him, and have all he makes without rent or share. What Grace and Unkle Lee can do will support the children, get William to sell off everything surplus that the Yankees have left us as fast as he is able to do through the ______ as if it was his own, take good notes for it in his own name, he can give them over to me or you hereafter; take possession of all household plunder as his own and use it as such in fact, act in every way as if I was not in existance, make any arrangements that you possibly can that will pave any portion of your estate for your benefit hereafter, and assure William that he shall not sacrifice anything by being faithful as the nature of things will permit him to you in this trial appeal to your friends to assist you now in your distress, but do not beg them, return of course to brother Webb’s whenever it suits you. Jack Vincent has sworn to protect you, if he fails to do so, he is perjured. Brother Webb will I know do all he can: I do not wish him to compromise his safety in anything that he may do for me but he can do you much good without injuring himself. It is a great task on you my dear but you know not what a woman of your good sense can accomplish, and act as if a Lincoln ball had silenced me forever, and you had to act entirely for yourself, these are momentuos times, which call out every latent energy. I feel that we will in a very short time have peace restored, for I believe the last great battle has been fought, there may be one more but we will conquer, I firmly believe. I know not when I shall see you, but I hope it will not be long: write to me if you have any chance to send a letter to me, let me be where I will. The buffalo gnats are killing our horses and mules, they are worse than was ever known it is said by the people here, we have to grease our horses and keep a smoke continually near them. My horse was taking the distemper when he left Trenton. Will overheat him coming through and standing in so much mud and water caused the disease to fall in his limbs, his legs are swelling in a strait and the gnats are working on him and both together I think will very likely kill him. My mare is getting over distemper, but her eye is weak yet. I know not what Will will do for a horse. I wish he was in the infantry, he ought to go on foot for leaving his horse at home for the Yankees to get. Will is doing duty but is not regularly admitted, I know not whether he can be or not as he will come under the Conscript Law, which has been passed and about which there is now a great deal of talk. A good many are opposed to it and some in favor of it. I think it is the salvation of the country and am willing to come under its provisions; as you may not have a chance to see it I will give you a brief outline of it. It requires all persons not now in service, capable of military duty between the ages of 18 and 35 to be immediately enrolled and mustered into service, and sent to the old regiments now in the field and to serve for three years or during the war. It requires all 12 months volunteers now in the field between the ages of 18 and 35 to serve 12 months longer, all that are under 18 and over 35 of this class are required to serve only 90 days longer, provided their places are not supplied by new recruits from them not now in the service. It will be the means of getting the Union men, or causing them to leave the country, it will make every man a soldier in the South, who is able to bear arms, and it will show the North that we will not be subjugated. Many are opposed to it but I am surprised that they are. I have written all that I have time my dear, the boys are grumbling that I am not helping them cook, no one cares for our misfortunes here, and it is with difficulty that I can get to write to you. Farewell, my dearest wife, may God bless you and preserve you, and if he restores you to my arms at the end of this struggle; if all else is lost, I am content. My love to Bro. Webb’s and Tony’s family. Let Bro. Webb see this letter, still I know it is needless to ask him to assist you when he see the necessity, for I know well he will do it and God will reward him in heaven, if I never do on earth. Farewell again, your ever Devoted husband, T. J Frazer.

This paper are filled also with stories about the so called terrible acts of the rebels.

Soldiers Death – Roll

Benjamin B. Comstock, a member of Co. A. 19th Reg. Wisc. Vols., departed this life on the 17th and was interred near Humboldt, Tennessee. He was a native of New York.

Died of inflamation of the lungs at the Geners Hospital, Union City, Tenn., July 14th; John McLaughlin, Co. D, 12th Reg. Wisc. Vols.; formerly of Trenton, Washington Co., Wisc.

Provided by Sarah Hutcherson who transcribed this from the microfilm. Thanks Sarah!